Southold Town Beach, Long Island, NY

[TheOtherCraig]

Jen and I will also be there on the 23rd with some of the WV gang. We're going to be trying out our new drysuits......

Ahhh..drysuits! Kris desperately wants one, she'll be jealous if we see you guys at Dutch on the 23rd. She's been an especially good girl this year, maybe I should talk to Santa Any suggestions on who makes a good suit at a fair price? Price being the major obstacle for us to go dry. Forecast you quote actually looks worse than the one I saw and THAT one wasn't very good! Yikes. We are playing hooky from our jobs Friday and we were really hoping to get a couple of dives in. Know what you mean about the washing machine thing, been there, done that, no fun! :11:

Craig

 

[H2O lover]

Craig,

I goty a really good deal on a DUI 350 at Beneath the Sea a few years ago. I live in Islip and bought it from a shop in NJ that was manning the DUI booth. Since I bought it from a shop in NJ they shipped it so there was no sales tax. Before they shipped I drove to the shop and tried it on and they cut the seals for me.

As for LDS I think LI Scuba is one of the best around I've been diving LI since 1988 and have visited most of the shops on the island.

Ahhh..drysuits! Kris desperately wants one, she'll be jealous if we see you guys at Dutch on the 23rd. She's been an especially good girl this year, maybe I should talk to Santa Any suggestions on who makes a good suit at a fair price? Price being the major obstacle for us to go dry. Forecast you quote actually looks worse than the one I saw and THAT one wasn't very good! Yikes. We are playing hooky from our jobs Friday and we were really hoping to get a couple of dives in. Know what you mean about the washing machine thing, been there, done that, no fun! :11:

Craig

 

[H2O lover]

I was wondering if there are town restrictions on parking or dive at the townbeach? Also are there some small wrecks there? This sounds like a nice easy place to dive.

Thanks,
H2O Lover

 

[ScottyK]

I can talk to you in detail about some drysuit options next Saturday. I just did a ton of research on this before I bought ours. The basic breakdown is as follows:

1- Stay away from neoprene suits and uber cheapie shell suits. The lowest price suit I even considered was the package deal from Whites, which is in the $800 range.

2- If you can get up to around $1,000 you will have some better options and will be getting up to the mid range suits. I got a great deal on Viking X-treme suits through Bob3, who is a Scubaboard member. These suits are at the higher end of mid range, and I can't even post the price he gave me. In this range you can get a suit that has quality valves and seals, which is important IMHO.

3- Closer to $2,000 and up will get you a Viking Pro suit or DUI. These are the higher end suits, and are generally loved by those who dive them. I personally didn't see the need to spend that much. The main advantage of the DUI suits is they are very resistant to damage. If you aren't going to be diving in oyster beds ar doing serious wreck penetration, this is not absolutely necessary (my opinion). Having said that, if you can afford a top end suit, go for it. No one I know ever complained that their suit was too high quality

 

[ScottyK]

I was wondering if there are town restrictions on parking or dive at the townbeach? Also are there some small wrecks there? This sounds like a nice easy place to dive.

Thanks,
H2O Lover

Except for Secret Beach, all of the dive site parking areas in Southold Town have signs up that say only residents can park. However, in eight years of diving our there I've never had a problem.

I even asked the town police if it was OK the first couple of times I went out there. I was told that as long as you are not causing any problems or disturbances, they have no problem with divers parking in town lots.

 

[TheOtherCraig]

Hi Scott,

Thanks for the breakdown on the drysuits. It's pretty much as we figured. I look forward to talking to you about it next Saturday, on a surface interval perhaps. This weekend is surely looking like a bust for diving but Kris and I plan on heading out East anyway. We figure we'll recon some of the sites we've been hearing/reading about. Call it long range dive planning!

Thanks also to H20 Lover for the tip. Doesn't it feel great when you score a great deal on a piece of equipment? I also want to add that I agree with Scott, Kris and I have never had a problem with local police in Southold Town despite the signs. During the peak summer season though we will more than likely pick up a day parking permit from the town beach or from Soundview Scuba. They go for $12 but on a good dive day its a bargain!

Craig

 

[DEEPLOU]

Here is a snippet of the marine forecast for this weekend.

Fri Night... S winds 25 to 30 kt...becoming SW after midnight. Seas 6 to 9 ft...building to 8 to 11 ft after midnight. Showers likely until early morning...then a chance of showers. Vsby 1 to 3 nm.
Sat... SW winds 25 to 30 kt with gusts up to 40 kt...decreasing to 20 to 25 kt with gusts up to 30 kt in the afternoon. Seas 9 to 12 ft.
Sat Night... W winds 20 to 25 kt...decreasing to 15 to 20 kt after midnight. Seas 6 to 9 ft...subsiding to 4 to 7 ft after midnight.
Sun... W winds 15 to 20 kt. Seas 3 to 5 ft.
Mon... W winds 10 to 15 kt. Seas 2 to 4 ft. A chance of showers.

They are calling for possible gale force winds Friday into Saturday

Unless the idea of diving in a washing machine filled with mud, and on the spin cycle intrigues you, I'm not seeing a dive happening on Saturday. Crap

Unfortunately I already read that bad news. (I don't usually do beach dives so off shore is most probably definately out)

As for LDS I think LI Scuba is one of the best around I've been diving LI since 1988 and have visited most of the shops on the island.

No question, hands down. (oops, I am prejudice). They are not overpriced and will not try to sell you something you don't need. I have nothing against Gus (Dogfish) or Mike (Ocean Rock) (have known both for almost 10 years, but I'll stick w/ Ralph and Jeff of LI Scuba. And if your looking for a dry suit, they can fix you up, they carry several brands. But I would go with the DUI.

 

[TheOtherCraig]

Hi Deep Lou,

Thanks for the input, its always appreciated. We're hearing alot of positive things about LI Scuba, guess we should go check them out again.

My buddy and I actually got in two very nice dives this morning. The first at Southold Town Beach, a stiff current but the Sound looked like glass and vis was in the 10' range. Not as much marine life as there was two weeks ago here but a decent dive despite that and the cardio workout from all the finning! Water temp 63 degrees at max depth of 14'. The second dive was more of a recon. We went to the Oyster Ponds which is on the border of East Marion and Orient. Water like glass again, current much more mild. Tons of marine life! Luckily we had the Multisnapper, hopefully some photos turn out as vis was more in the area of 5' here. I'll probably be posting a full report on this site in a new thread as we aren't aware of any other divers who have tried this spot. Pretty excited we got to dive at all today, the forecast being what it was.

Fingers crossed for Saturday now!

Craig

 

[ScottyK]

Unfortunately I already read that bad news. (I don't usually do beach dives so off shore is most probably definately out) .

Hey Lou,

Our drysuits are arriving tomorrow. Diving wet has been the limiting factor to us doing more boat diving up here. We're going to spend the next six weeks or so getting comfortable in them, and hope to finally be joining you for some offshore dives this coming season.

No question, hands down. (oops, I am prejudice). They are not overpriced and will not try to sell you something you don't need. I have nothing against Gus (Dogfish) or Mike (Ocean Rock) (have known both for almost 10 years, but I'll stick w/ Ralph and Jeff of LI Scuba. And if your looking for a dry suit, they can fix you up, they carry several brands. But I would go with the DUI.

'

I need to pick up some accessories for the abovementioned suits, and am going to use it as an excuse to check out LI Scuba today. Even in the worst case, they have to be cheaper than Dogfish or Ocean Rock

 

[ScottyK]

We went to the Oyster Ponds which is on the border of East Marion and Orient. Water like glass again, current much more mild. Tons of marine life! Luckily we had the Multisnapper, hopefully some photos turn out as vis was more in the area of 5' here. I'll probably be posting a full report on this site in a new thread as we aren't aware of any other divers who have tried this spot. Pretty excited we got to dive at all today, the forecast being what it was.

Fingers crossed for Saturday now!

Craig

Craig,

Yes, definitely post a report on this site as Jen and I are always on the lookout for a new place to dive. Sometimes, just saying "screw it" and jumping in the water is the best way to find a great site. We have a couple of secret places that aren't in any book, and we've never seen another diver there.

The pic below is from one of our favorites, and why very few people, if any will ever find out where it is. We got this snap of a huge lobster right after he finished winning a territorial battle with another big one (you can just make out the losers claw on the right side of the pic as he scuttled away). This was in broad daylight and we got to watch the whole thing. It was fascinating, like live Discovery Channel. If a lot of divers found out about this place, every large lobster, Fluke and blackfish would be cleaned out in a matter of weeks. Not happening on my watch